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El Asia baja ligeramente debido al petroleo y al Medio Oriente.
ASIA MARKETSFEBRUARY 21, 2011, 5:58 A.M. ET
Asia Down Slightly on Oil, Unrest
By SHRI NAVARATNAM and WEI-ZHE TAN in Singapore and V. PHANI KUMAR in Hong Kong
Asian markets ended mostly lower Monday as escalating unrest in the Mideast and North Africa kept investors on edge, though energy-sector shares posted gains as the turmoil pushed crude-oil prices higher.
In China, shares advanced as investors shrugged off the latest tightening measures from Beijing, but airlines underperformed in Shanghai and Hong Kong after a weekend increase in fuel prices.
The broad regional decline came as oil prices remained high in the wake of reports of gunfire in the Libyan capital Tripoli, as well as mass protests in Bahrain, Morocco and Iran.
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"There is a bit of nervousness as violence in the Mideast and around is continuing to get worse and investors are just starting to get worried about that side of the world," said Hamilton Hindin Greene broker Grant Williamson in New Zealand.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng index fell 0.5%, Taiwan's Taiex slipped 0.1%, South Korea's Kospi gave up 0.4% and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.7%, while India's Sensex rose 1.3%.
Vietnamese stocks were the worst hit during the session, with the benchmark VN index tumbling 4%, after the government said it will raise electricity prices by an average 15.3% from March, stoking concerns about the impact on inflation.
"Raising electricity prices will cause higher costs for many companies, resulting in lower profitability for them," said Quach Manh Hao, the deputy general director of Thang Long Securities, Vietnam's biggest brokerage firm.
Trading volumes were modest in several markets ahead of a holiday in the U.S. Monday.
Ranking among gainers, Japan's Nikkei Stock Average added 0.1%, while China's Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.1%.
The advance on mainland bourses came despite the People's Bank of China's decision late Friday to increase lenders' reserve requirement ratio by another 0.5 percentage point to drain excess liquidity from the banking system.
Shares of Chongqing Brewery Co. and ZTE Corp. were among those that rose by the day's 10% limit. Also supporting the advance, Dongfang Electric Corp. rose 1.6%, Joincare Pharmaceutical Group Industry Co. rose 4.7%, Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. added 1.5% and Citic Securities climbed 3.4%.
But many banks and property developers declined or rose less than the broader markets. China Construction Bank Corp. ended little changed and Industrial & Commercial Bank of China fell 0.7%, while Gemdale gave up 0.2% in Shanghai.
In Hong Kong, CCB fell 0.9% and China Merchants Bank Co. shed 1.6%, while Shimao Property Holdings slid 1.3%.
"Despite the effectiveness in draining liquidity from banks, overly relying on RRR hikes could pose increasing risks to China's financial stability," BofA Merrill Lynch economist Lu Ting wrote in a note to clients. Lu added that despite the ease with which the PBOC can raise the RRR, it can't "flexibly cut RRR when short-term liquidity is too tight in fear of sending wrong signals."
Chinese airlines also underperformed after the National Development and Reform Commission announced a 5.8% increase in jet fuel prices, in addition to raising gasoline and diesel prices by 4.1% and 4.5% respectively, reflecting a recent increase in global crude-oil prices.
Shares of China Eastern Airlines Corp. fell 0.7% and China Southern Airlines Co. slipped 0.1% in an upbeat Shanghai market. The losses were more pronounced in Hong Kong, where the stocks lost 2.4% and 4%, respectively.
Shares of BYD Co. tumbled 6.2% in Hong Kong after the auto maker, in which a unit of Warren Buffett-controlled Berkshire Hathaway Inc. holds a stake, Friday announced it has slashed prices on five of its main models by up to 19%.
The tension in the Mideast and North African regions sent oil prices higher, which in turn lifted many energy stocks in the region. Shares of Cnooc rose 1.7% and PetroChina Co. added 0.9% in Hong Kong, with Inpex Corp. climbing 1.7% in Tokyo and Santos adding 1.3% in Sydney, while Cairn India rose 0.5% in afternoon trade.
March Nymex crude-oil futures rose $1.50 to $87.70 per barrel on Globex.
Safe-haven flows also sent spot gold higher to $1,397.50 per troy ounce, up $8.40 from its New York close Friday.
Meanwhile, shares of Softbank Corp. advanced 5.6% in Tokyo, helped by a report that China's Renren.com, a social-networking site in which Softbank has invested, plans to list its shares in the U.S. this year.
In Sydney, shares of Seven Group Holdings rose 2.3% after its first-half results beat some analysts' expectations. The rise also followed news of the company's $4.1 billion Australian dollar ($4.14 billion) tie-up with West Australian Newspapers. West Australian shares were on a trading halt.
Resource stocks were broadly lower after China's reserve requirement ratio increase, with BHP Billiton falling 1.5% and Rio Tinto falling 1.7%.
"Resources are reacting negatively to China's latest reserve requirement increase," said Macquarie Private Wealth adviser James Rosenberg. "Instability in the Mideast is also a negative factor for equities. You don't know if it's on the cusp of significant conflict and massive change in the region."
Financial stocks fell in Seoul amid the broad fall in regional markets, with sentiment also hurt by the Financial Services Commission's recent decision to halt operations of a total of six savings banks for six months. KB Financial Group dropped 1.6% and Woori Finance Holdings Co. fell 1.4%.
Elsewhere in the region, New Zealand's NZX 50 gave up 0.9% and Philippine stocks lost 0.4%. Singapore's Straits Times index declined 0.5%, Indonesia shares slipped 0.1% and Thailand's SET was flat.
Major currencies were range-bound in foreign-exchange markets ahead of the U.S. holiday. The euro was fetching $1.3681 from $1.3695 late Friday in New York, and 113.74 yen from 113.93 yen. The dollar was at 83.12 yen, compared with 83.14 yen.
Lead March Japanese government bond futures fell modestly lower after Friday's fall in U.S. Treasurys, but the losses were contained by worries over the Mideast turmoil.
The 10-year futures contract was down 0.05 at 138.97 points, while the 10-year cash yield was up 0.05 percentage point at 1.305%.